By Phyllis HanesStaff writer of The Christian Science Monitor. Phyllis Hanes is the Monitor's food editor.

DESPITE the hundreds of cookbooks available today, most home cooks get their ideas for holiday dinner from their own memories. They try to re-create the favorite dishes of all the family meals they've ever had. This is especially true of Thanksgiving, when the centerpiece of the day's celebration is usually the traditional bird. But with many cooks, questions still arise. Questions start with the bird, and the most frequent one is, ``Who will do the stuffing, and what kind will it be this year?''

Some are made with corn bread, nuts, and other additions. Cookbook writer James Beard thinks stuffing tastes better when cooked in a baking dish than when cooked inside the bird - so it gets crisp, not soggy, and is easier to serve.

Traditionalists, however, like to bake their stuffing inside the bird, often with a portion of the stuffing cooked separately.

Jean Liles, food editor of Southern Living magazine, says the turkey roasting is often shared - with different members of the household taking turns as to who does the honors.

``Many men help with cooking the Thanksgiving turkey today. Of course, in the South,'' she comments, ``men enjoy cooking outdoors, especially grilling ... and you'd be surprised how many men like to make desserts.''

Ann McDuffie, food editor in Tampa, Fla., says that ``since more men have to share the kitchen duties, they've learned that it's more fun to do the cooking than to wash up.''

Nancy Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line, says that although her figures for people calling for help show no more men roasting the bird than last year, she has found that 10 to 15 percent of calls for advice come from people who are cooking the bird for the first time.

``And age is no question - one man of 84 called to get a few tips on how he should cook his first holiday turkey,'' she reports.

Questions asked most often this year concern thawing. Many people also call and say they have a power outage - what to do?

``Wrap the bird in a towel and take it next door or to a neighbor'' is the answer that solves the problem quickest, Ms. Rodriguez says.

``Some years we have questions about food safety with the turkey, but people are more aware of cooking techniques today,'' she says.

``An interesting thing about our callers is that when a person starts to talk to us, we find we can tell from their accent what kind of stuffing they will have in their turkey,'' Rodriguez comments.

``People with a New England accent favor oyster dressing. In the Southwest, it's a corn bread mixture. In the Southeast, the stuffing will be cooked outside of the turkey in a separate dish, and cooks in the Midwest usually like a bread-onion-sage stuffing.

``Of course, there are other varieties of stuffing that all kinds of people like,'' says Rodriguez.

``Many people make two kinds - one for the front of the turkey and another for the bigger cavity. People tell us about their stuffings with sausage, chestnuts, fruit, noodles, sauerkraut, nuts, and other additions. The list goes on and on.'' Open since 1981, the toll-free Butterball Turkey Talk-Line number is: (800) 323-4848. Talk-line dates and hours are:

Today - Nov. 23: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. (central time).

Weekend before Thanksgiving (Nov. 19-20): 8 a.m.-6 p.m. (CST).

Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 24): 6 a.m.- 6 p.m. (CST).

Nov. 25 - Dec. 23: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.- 6 p.m. (CST).

Here are some favorite recipes of the food professionals who answer phones at the Turkey Talk-Line.